Knowledge Base

BIOS Recovery options on a Dell PC or Tablet

The following article provides information on the BIOS recovery capability available on select Dell PCs or tablets. These are the BIOS features that let you recover from a corrupted BIOS, and attempt a recovery of a No POST (Power On Self Test)/ No Boot issue.

The BIOS Recovery tools are software designed to recover a corrupted BIOS. (This often displays as a No POST/No Boot issue.) They are based on Boot Block Technology. The BIOS recovery 2 software's main feature is to provide the flexibility to recover a corrupted BIOS using a BIOS recovery file from the computer's primary hard disk drive or an external USB key. Whilst the BIOS recovery 3 software adds a system start-up check, that can be enabled in the BIOS to add an auto-recovery capability to the BIOS recovery process.

Note:

How to recover from booting issues using the BIOS Recovery Tool (Duration 03:49) English Only

A corrupt BIOS is one of the possible causes of your PC being unable to complete POST or boot into your systems operating system. If your Dell PC or tablet supports BIOS recovery 2 or 3, you can recover the corrupt BIOS by using the recovery method detailed below for your Dell PC or tablet.

Note: BIOS recovery is not supported on all Dell PCs. Refer to the FAQ section for a detailed list of Dell PCs and tablets that supports the BIOS recovery .

While BIOS recovery 2 and 3 are supported on Dell desktops, all-in-one PCs, laptops, convertible and detachable PCs like Dell XPS 12 and Dell tablets. There are different methods to initiate a BIOS recovery on these devices. Methods to start off BIOS recovery includes:

Recovery from your systems primary hard drive is enabled by default within the BIOS Setup. (It can be disabled if you choose, but this isn't recommended.)

Recovery from the external USB key cannot be disabled in the BIOS Setup. (Its default enabled.)

The default search location for the BIOS Recovery image is the external USB key, should a key be present. If an image is not found on the key or the key is absent, the BIOS then searches your primary hard drive for the recovery image. The search will terminates if no image is found, see FAQ section.

The FAQ section answers questions regarding issues you may encounter during an unsuccessful BIOS recovery.

Note:

BIOS recovery 2 can be initialized using an embedded keyboard on laptops and does not support external keyboard for laptops.

BIOS recovery 2 can be initialized on desktops using the standard USB keyboard. Bluetooth keyboard will work if BIOS has POST support for system specific Bluetooth keyboards. (However Bluetooth keyboards are not recommended for use when attempting BIOS recovery.)

BIOS recovery can be initialized on tablets using the physical buttons available on the tablet.

BIOS recovery can be initialized on convertible or detachable PCs from both external keyboard or physical buttons available on the PC.

BIOS recovery cannot be initialized using the touchscreen of the device.

BIOS recovery 3:

BIOS recovery 3 is an improvement on BIOS recovery 2. It has all of the same features, but we have added a feature that allows for auto-recovery to start during boot if an integrity check that has to be enabled in the BIOS (Default is Disabled) fails and there is a recovery image on the HDD. (Auto-recovery is not possible from other media at present.)

Note: While whichever operating system (OS) you have on your PC doesn't matter as this all happens outside of the OS, please check your system type is compatible with this troubleshooting. You can find a table in the FAQ section below:

How do I initiate BIOS Recovery on a Dell desktop or all-in-one PC?

Press and hold the CTRL key + ESC key on the keyboard until the BIOS Recovery page appears.

On the BIOS Recovery screen, select Reset NVRAM (if available) and press the Enter key. Select Disabled and press the Enter key if you wish to save the current BIOS settings.

Select Recover BIOS and press the Enter key to start the recovery process.

Note: Your Dell PC may restart a few times during the process of BIOS recovery.

The CTRL key + ESC key combination can be used to trigger BIOS Recovery on PCs where an external keyboard is the primary input. This applies to desktops, all-in-one and portable all-in-one PCs. The supported keyboard types on these devices are:

PS/2 keyboard

USB keyboard

Bluetooth keyboard - If BIOS has POST support for system specific Bluetooth keyboard (It's not recommended for this issue however).

How do I initiate BIOS Recovery on a Dell laptop?

Before you begin the BIOS Recovery, ensure that the laptop's battery is charged up to at least 10%.

Verify that the laptop is powered OFF and disconnect the AC adapter.

Press and hold the CTRL key + ESC key on the keyboard.

Plug in the AC adapter to the laptop.

Release the CTRL key + ESC key on the keyboard once you see the BIOS recovery screen.

On the BIOS Recovery screen, select Reset NVRAM(if available) and press the Enter key. Select Disabled and press the Enter key if you wish to save the current BIOS settings.

Select Recover BIOS and press the Enter key to start the recovery process.

Note: Your Dell PC may restart a few times during the process of BIOS recovery.

How do I initiate BIOS Recovery on a Dell tablet?

Before you begin the BIOS Recovery, ensure that the tablet's battery is charged up to at least 50%.

Verify that the tablet is powered OFF and disconnect the AC adapter.

Press and hold down the Volume down button.

Plug in the AC adapter to the tablet.

Release the Volume down button.

On the BIOS Recovery screen, select Reset NVRAM (if available) and press Enter. Select Disabled and press Enter if you wish to save the current BIOS settings.

Select Recover BIOS and press Enter to start the recovery process.

Note: Your Dell tablet may restart a few times during the process of BIOS recovery.

How do I initiate BIOS Recovery on a convertible or detachable Dell PC?

Convertible and detachable Dell PCs support both the following methods where touch is the primary input.

Method 1: Key sequence

Verify that the device is powered OFF and disconnect the AC adapter.

Press and hold the CTRL key + ESC key on the keyboard.

Plug in the AC adapter to the device.

Release the CTRL key + ESC key on the keyboard.

On the BIOS Recovery screen, select Reset NVRAM (if available) and press the Enter key. Select Disabled and press the Enter key if you wish to save the current BIOS settings.

Select Recover BIOS and press the Enter key to start the recovery process.

Note: Your Dell PC may restart a few times during the process of BIOS recovery.

Method 2: Button sequence

Verify that the tablet is powered OFF and disconnect the AC adapter.

Press and hold down the Volume down button.

Plug in the AC adapter to the tablet.

Release the Volume down button.

On the BIOS Recovery screen, select Reset NVRAM (if available) and press Enter. Select Disabled and press Enter if you wish to save the current BIOS settings.

Select Recover BIOS and press Enter to start the recovery process.

Note: Your Dell PC may restart a few times during the process of BIOS recovery.

Note: BIOS Recovery cannot be triggered using the touchscreen of the convertible or detachable Dell PC.

If BIOS Recovery from HDD is enabled and there is a BIOS Auto-Recovery field settable in the BIOS setup, your Dell PC support BIOS recovery 3.

If your system is NOT in a working condition, check if it matches one of the systems in the table in the drawer above or if it was manufactured after Dec 2015 and has the Intel Skylake chipset. If so, your system should support the BIOS recovery 2 feature and BIOS recovery may be attempted.

If your system is NOT in a working condition, check if it matches one of the systems in the table in the drawer above or if it was manufactured after Aug 2016 or has the Intel Kaby Lake chipset. If so, your system should support the BIOS recovery 3 feature and BIOS recovery may be attempted.

Note: There could be slight variation in description of the option between different types of BIOS that are implemented on Dell PCs. The presence of BIOS Recovery from Hard Drive in the BIOS setup identifies that the Dell PC supports BIOS recovery.

For those systems that support BIOS recovery, the BIOS Recovery file will already be on the systems Hard Drive (HDD) in the ESP/EFI Partition.

If the BIOS Recovery file is NOT found on the HDD, it could be that:

Your HDD has been replaced since it left the factory

You've changed your BIOS from UEFI to Legacy boot

You've reimaged your system since receiving it from the factory

You've reinstalled the system with a new operating system and formatted the HDD

If your system is in a working state, you can add the BIOS Recovery file back to the HDD, by re-flashing the BIOS. (Even if your putting the same revision back on, that it's currently flashed to.) Remember that for this to work the BIOS has to be set to UEFI and the operating system must be at least Windows 7 64 bit or a more recent revision.

If your system is NOT in a working state, for example a No Post/No Boot situation and the BIOS Recovery file is not on your HDD - It obviously won't be possible to attempt to flash the BIOS to add the BIOS Recovery file to the HDD. Fortunately even in this condition its possible to use a recovery file on an external USB key. If you have a Dell BIOS on your system you can follow the instructions below, however if your BIOS is supplied by another manufacturer then you will need to contact Dell Support to get a copy of it's recovery file. (You can identify a Dell BIOS as the touchpad or mouse pointer still works and the information is in a tree format down the left hand side of the screen. A BIOS supplied by another manufacturer tends to be a menu bar along the top of the screen that you navigate using the keyboard.)

To get the Recovery file for a Dell BIOS simply use the service tag number for your system and download the BIOS.exe file from the Dell Support Pages. You can use another system to download this file, but ensure you use the service tag of the affected PC.

Save the BIOS.exe file to your desktop

Rename the file to BIOS_IMG.rcv changing the filename and file extension

If you can't see the file extension then go to the Windows Start icon and type in Folder Options

Click on View and uncheck the HIDE EXTENSIONS FOR KNOWN FILE TYPES and click OK

Right click on the file saved on the desktop, the extension for the file .exe can now be seen and changed

Some Dell PCs and tablets have an option to keep the BIOS settings before starting the recovery process. If this option is seen after starting off the BIOS recovery 2 feature, and you want to keep the current BIOS settings - Select the option that disables the NVRAM reset.

Warning: The default setting for Reset NVRAM is set to Enabled. This will clear all BIOS settings. Certain Dell PCs or tablets may not have the feature to Reset NVRAM.

BIOS recovery 2 and 3 is not supported from an encrypted hard disk drive or if the hard disk drive is password enabled in the BIOS. BIOS recovery setup will attempt to search for the recovery image on the hard disk drive, but eventually will fail.
If you are able to enter the BIOS setup, you can try to disable the hard disk drive password and try recovering the BIOS.

BIOS recovery utilizes indications via beeps or LEDs if there are any errors during the recovery process. If you hear any beeps or see LEDs blinking in a pattern during the BIOS recovery process, try the following steps:

Shutdown the Dell PC or tablet.

Initiate the BIOS recovery process again.

If you are still hearing the beeps or see the LEDs blinking in a pattern, try creating a USB recovery key instead.

If you are still unable to complete the recovery process, contact Dell Technical Support.